Recently Tiffany The Razor Queen issued a challenge to shavers–what shaving gear would you take if your suitcase was full? Tiffany wasn’t clear on the circumstances of the trip so I’m going to fudge a little here and tell you what I would bring under a few different situations.
Razor
If the trip is only for a couple of days and I’m only taking carry on luggage and space is really at a premium I take King Of Shave’s Hyperglide razor. Unlike other cartridge razors with a small lube strip, the entire hyperglide cartridge face is covered with a water-activated lubricant. As long as I use a lot of water and my stubble isn’t more than a day or so old, shaving with this razor works just fine. There’s no pleasure in it though.
If it’s a longer trip I’ll go ahead and take a brush and cream, but for the razor I’ll use a Gillette Guard. The Guard is a single blade razor with a pivot. They’re made for the Indian market but some enterprising wet shaving vendors have imported them. West Coast Shaving has them in the US.
By the way, if I was traveling all the time, and if I my luggage was very limited–like an airline flight attendant–I’d get a Cormia razor. It’s incredibly small and takes commonly available Trac 2 blades. The only problem is you kind of have to relearn how to shave, using a pushing action instead of the common handle pulling action. I found it hard to switch between the two so I just settled on the Gillette Guard.
Brush
For a brush I use this Omega Syntex. This shaving brush uses inexpensive synthetic fibers. It doesn’t perform particularly well but it’s light, cheap, dries quickly, and gets the job done. When I pack it I store it in a prescription pill bottle that has a couple holes drilled in it for air circulation.
Shaving Cream
Now I’m finally at the good part, the shaving cream. And here’s where I deviate from my idea of going cheap, at least partly. I like to take some of my favorite, best-performing shaving cream, which in my case is William Neumann’s Old Fashioned Soda Shop. I love everything about this stuff–it smells great, it feels great, and it works great, even when used brushless. Unfortunately it comes in a big honkin’ pump bottle! So I put some in a little craft paint container. The Neumann’s cream is so concentrated that I can put about a week’s worth of shaves into the little paint cup. When I want to use it I scoop some out onto the brush with a little craft stick, or in a pinch even the little coffee stir stick you often find in hotel rooms.
Aftershave
Finally, for an aftershave I use Trumper’s skin food. Skin Food isn’t particularly cheap either, but it can do double duty as both a pre-shave and an aftershave.
That’s how I roll. 🙂 What do you think of my travel choices? Leave a comment below!
I’m a pilot and obviously travel a lot. An extra problem I have is that I shave right before leaving home or the hotel, and sometimes at infortunate times, such as 1am. Two things I currently use and I suggest:
1- I have a Merkur 34c SR with a “Merkur Double Edge Razor Travel Case” that works perfectly for me. This case prevents me from assembling and disassembling the SR, of course there are other cases available.
2- After Shave Lotions and Balms are usually contained in a glass bottle. I once had a bolttle craked, but luckily I didn`t lose the ASL. To avoid such problem, I have been using an ASL that is contained in a plastic bottle, Aqua Velva “shatterproof bottle”.
Another suggestion I found interesting is to use a soap stick so one can leave the bowl at home and lather on face.
I really liked the idea of using a synthetic brush, I have a boar brush and it’s a pain to attempt to dry it out, so I pack while it’s still damp.
I travel with a Simpsons Wee Scott, muhle Mach 3 with olive wood handle ( I leave toe D/E razors at home as I am usually short on morning prep time) and the small refill Czech and Speake soap that fits into an old Al’s plastic shave balm container. Even in that container it lathers like crazy.
I really like the Guard, and it’s super cheap. I haven’t tried the King of Shaves razor, but my favorite cart razor is Harry’s. You can get the Truman for about 10 bucks, so it’s not too bad of an investment, and the shaves are really quite surprising; especially for someone like myself who is prone to razor burn and ingrown hairs.
I travel with a 5 piece set, (a Merkur standard baseplate and cap, a 26C baseplate, an EJ handle and the 26c handle.) It yields 4 combinations: a long or a short handled straight & open comb razors. I use an Omega S brush which dries quickly. The last day of my trip I shave with Cremo, since I do not want to carry a wet brush home.
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